System and method for trading and displaying market information in an electronic trading environment

ABSTRACT

A system and method for trading and displaying market information along a static axis are described to ensure fast and accurate execution of trades. The static axis, whether is a straight axis or a curved one, can be oriented in any direction. Regardless of how the axis is oriented, a first region may display price levels that are arranged along the static axis. A second region, which overlaps the first region, may display one or more indicators for highlighting one of the price levels associated with the lowest offer and one of the price levels associated with the highest bid. Moreover, a third region, which overlaps the first region, may be included for initiating placement of an order to buy or an order to sell the tradeable object through an action of a user input device. Other overlapping regions may also be displayed so that additional market information may be viewed by a trader.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/590,692, filed Jun. 9, 2000 and U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/589,751, filed Jun. 9, 2000, both of which claim the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application No. 60/186,322, filed Mar. 2, 2000, is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/971,087,filed Oct. 5, 2001, which claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/238,001, filed Oct. 6, 2000, and is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/125,894,filed Apr. 19, 2002. This application also claims the benefit of U.S.Patent Application No. 60/325,553, filed Oct. 1, 2001. The entirecontent of each of the above-referenced applications is incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention is directed towards electronic trading.Specifically, the present invention is directed to tools for tradingtradeable objects that can be traded with quantities and/or prices.

BACKGROUND

Trading methods have evolved from a manually intensive process to atechnology enabled, electronic platform. With the advent of electronictrading, a user or trader can be in virtually direct contact with themarket, from practically anywhere in the world, performing nearreal-time transactions, and without the need to make personal contactwith a broker.

Electronic trading is generally based on a host exchange, one or morecomputer networks, and client devices. In general, the host exchangeincludes one or more centralized computers to form the electronic heart.Its operations typically include order matching, maintaining order booksand positions, price information, and managing and updating a databasethat records such information. The host exchange is also equipped withan external interface that maintains uninterrupted contact to the clientdevices and possibly other trading-related systems.

Using client devices, market participants or traders link to the hostexchange through one or more networks. A network is a group of two ormore computers or devices linked together. There are many types of wiredand wireless networks such as local area networks and wide areanetworks. Networks can also be characterized by topology, protocol, andarchitecture. For example, some market participants may link to the hostthrough a direct connection such as a T1 or ISDN. Some participants maylink to the host exchange through direct connections and through othercommon network components such as high-speed servers, routers, andgateways. The Internet, a well-known collection of networks andgateways, can be used to establish a connection between the clientdevice and the host exchange. There are many different types of networksand combinations of network types known in the art that can link tradersto the host exchange.

Regardless of the way in which a connection is established, softwarerunning on the client devices allows market participants to log onto oneor more exchanges and participate in at least one market. A clientdevice is a computer such as a personal computer, laptop computer,hand-held computer, and so forth that has network access. In general,client devices run software that creates specialized interactive tradingscreens. Trading screens enable market participants to obtain marketquotes, monitor positions, and submit orders to the host.

Generally, when an order is submitted to a host exchange, the hostchecks the conditions associated with the order, for example price andquantity, and prioritizes the order with other orders of the same price.When the order conditions are satisfied in the market, a trade occursand trade information is then relayed in some fashion to one or moreclient devices. In fact, the host exchanges typically publish a datafeed to the client devices so that the traders can have access to themost current market information.

Market information commonly includes information regarding the insidemarket and market depth. The inside market is the lowest sell price inthe market and the highest buy price in the market at a particular pointin time. Market depth refers to quantities available at the insidemarket and may also refer to quantities available at other prices awayfrom the inside market. The quantity available at a given price level isusually provided by the host exchange in aggregate sums. In other words,a host exchange usually provides the total buy or the total sellquantity available in the market at a particular price level in its datafeed. The extent of the market depth available to a trader usuallydepends on the host exchange. For instance, some host exchanges providemarket depth for all price levels, while some provide only quantitiesassociated with the inside market, and others may provide no marketdepth at all. Additionally, host exchanges can offer other types ofmarket information such as the last traded price (LTP), the last tradedquantity (LTQ), and order fill information.

To profit in electronic markets, market participants must be able toassimilate large amounts of data, including market information providedby an exchange, and react accordingly more quickly than other competingmarket participants. It is therefore desirable to offer tools that canassist a market participant in adapting his or her strategy to anelectronic marketplace, and help the participant to make desirabletrades.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a network connection between an exchange and a clientsite;

FIG. 2 illustrates a software and/or hardware overview of a clientdevice which is used to implement the preferred embodiments;

FIGS. 3A-3E illustrates examples of various input devices for use with aclient device of the preferred embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a display showing, among other things, the insidemarket and market depth of an example market;

FIG. 5 illustrates a display showing regions for displaying workingorders, bid quantities, ask quantities, and prices situated along astatic axis;

FIG. 6 illustrates a display showing how regions for displaying workingorders, bid quantities, ask quantities, and prices situated along astatic axis can be rearranged to suit a trader's preferences;

FIG. 7 illustrates a display showing how portions of the price displayregion may be viewed by manual adjustment;

FIG. 8 illustrates a display showing regions for displaying workingorders, bid quantities, ask quantities without the price display region;

FIG. 9 illustrates a display showing regions for displaying bidquantities, ask quantities, and prices situated along a static axis;

FIG. 10 illustrates a display similar to FIG. 9 and displayssubstantially similar market information as shown in FIG. 9 only at sometime in the future;

FIG. 11 illustrates the display of FIG. 9 with the use of indicators tohighlight market information associated with the inside market;

FIG. 12 illustrates the display of FIG. 10 with the use of indicators tohighlight market information associated with the inside market;

FIG. 13 illustrates a compact display showing only price levels situatedalong a static axis with the inside market highlighted by indicators;

FIG. 14 illustrates a compact display similar to the display of FIG. 13with indicators used to indicate market depth;

FIG. 15 illustrates the display of FIG. 13 except that the inside markethas moved up in price;

FIG. 16 illustrates a display without the use of graphical borders todivide cells;

FIG. 17 illustrates a display that implements a curved static axis; and

FIG. 18 illustrates a display similar to the display in FIG. 17 with twomarkets referencing the same static axis.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As described with reference to the accompanying Figures, the preferredembodiments provide a display and/or trading method to ensure fast andaccurate order entry by displaying market information along a staticaxis. The static axis and order entry concepts have been described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/590,692, filed on Jun. 9, 2000, andentitled, “Click Based Trading With Intuitive Grid Display of MarketDepth,” the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Thepreferred embodiments are intended to build on the static axis and orderentry concepts described in this and other incorporated applications.

According to the preferred system, the display can be custom configuredwith the options to display working orders, inside market information,fills and market depth information from a single window. Regions in thedisplay of the preferred system, such as a working order region, a bidand ask quantity regions, and price display region can be rearranged onthe screen or removed entirely to suit a trader's particularpreferences. Indicators can be used to highlight market changes oropportunities in the market. Additionally, the preferred system has aconfigurable order entry system that gives the user options inperforming transactions with an exchange. This increased flexibility inscreen layout and order entry nonetheless maintains the display ofmarket information in an intuitive manner so that it allows forimmediate reaction to the market's changes.

The preferred embodiments now will be described more fully hereinafterwith reference to the accompanying drawings. This invention may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

I. Overview of a System Architecture

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates an electronic trading system100 in accordance with the preferred embodiment. The preferred system100 includes at least one host exchange 102 and two or more clientdevices, only one of which is illustrated in the Figure as client device104. Intermediate devices such as gateways, routers, and other suchtypes of network devices may be used to assist client device 104 andhost exchange 102 in communicating over network(s) 106. Intermediatedevices, additional host exchanges, and additional client devices arenot shown in FIG. 1 for sake of clarity.

A. Host Exchange

Host exchange 102 may represent, for example, the London InternationalFinancial Futures and Options Exchange (“LIFFE”), the Chicago Board ofTrade (“CBOT”), the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), the ChicagoMercantile Exchange (“CME”), the Xetra (a German stock exchange), theEuropean derivatives market (“Eurex”), or any other exchange thatparticipates in electronic trading. Host exchange 102 might also referto other facilities, which include basic to more complex systems thatautomatically match incoming orders. These example host exchanges andother host exchanges are well known in the art. Communication protocolsrequired for connectivity to one of these host exchanges are also wellknown in the art.

As described in the background, a host exchange 102 can implementnumerous types of order execution algorithms. Preferably, the preferredembodiments can be adapted by one skilled in the art to work with anyparticular order execution algorithm. Some example order executionalgorithms include first-in-first-out and pro rata algorithms. Thefirst-in-first-out (FIFO) algorithm, used for some markets listed withEurex for example, gives priority to the first person to place an order.The pro rata algorithm, used for some markets listed with LIFFE forexample, splits all orders for the same price. The present invention isnot limited to any particular type of order execution algorithm.

Regardless of the type of order execution algorithm used, each hostexchange 102 preferably provides similar types of information (referredto as market information 108 in FIG. 1) to subscribing client device(s)104. Market information 108 may include data that represents just theinside market and may also include market depth. The quantity availableat a given price level is usually provided by the host exchange inaggregate sums. In other words, a host exchange usually provides thetotal buy or the total sell quantity available in the market at aparticular price level in its data feed. Market information 108 cancontain other types of useful market information such as the last tradedprice (LTP), the last traded quantity (LTQ), and order fill information.The contents of market information 108 is generally left up to the hostexchange 102. Often, however, the host exchange 102 limits the amount ofinformation it sends to client device 104 to save on network bandwidth.

As previously described, the preferred embodiments may be used to tradeany tradeable object. As used herein, that the term “tradeable objects,”refers simply to anything that can be traded with a quantity and/orprice. It includes, but is not limited to, all types of tradeableobjects such as financial products, which can include, for example,stocks, options, bonds, futures, currency, and warrants, as well asfunds, derivatives and collections of the foregoing, and all types ofcommodities, such as grains, energy, and metals. The tradeable objectmay be “real,” such as products that are listed by an exchange fortrading, or “synthetic,” such as a combination of real products that iscreated by the user. A tradeable object could actually be a combinationof other tradeable object, such as a class of tradeable objects.

B. Client Device

In the preferred embodiments, client device 104 is a computer thatprovides an interface for a trader or market participant to trade at oneor more markets listed with host exchange 102. An example client deviceis a personal computer, laptop computer, hand-held computer, and soforth. Client device 104, according to the preferred embodiment,includes at least a processor and memory. The processor and memory,which are both well known computer components, are not shown in theFigure for sake of clarity. Preferably, the processor has enoughprocessing power to handle and process the various types of marketinformation. Of course, the more market information which is receivedand processed, the more processing power is preferred. However, anypresent day processor has enough capability to perform at least the mostbasic part of the preferred embodiments.

Memory may include computer readable medium. The term computer readablemedium, as used herein, refers to any medium that participates inproviding instructions to processor for execution. Such a medium maytake many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media,volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, forexample, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage device. Volatilemedia includes dynamic memory, such as main memory or RAM (random accessmemory). Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, afloppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any othermagnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, papertape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM,and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, and any other memory chip or cartridge, or anyother medium from which a computer can read.

In the preferred embodiments, client device 104 receives marketinformation 108 from host exchange 102. The market information 108 isreceived over network(s) 106. Network(s) 106 may include a group ofcomputers and/or associated devices that are connected by communicationsfacilities. Network(s) 106 can involve permanent connections, such ascables, or temporary connections made through telephone or othercommunication links. Network(s) 106 can be as small as a LAN (local areanetwork) consisting of a few computers, printers, and/or other devices,or it can consist of many small and large computers distributed over avast geographic area (WAN or wide area network), or it can consist ofboth types of networks (both LAN and WAN). For instance, the Internet, awell-known collection of networks and gateways, can be used to establisha connection between the client device 104 and the host exchange 102. Inanother example, wireless networks that send and receive data via radio,infrared optical signaling, or some other technology that does notrequire a physical connection can be used. There are many differenttypes of networks, and combinations of network types, known in the artthat can link client device 104 to the host exchange 102, and thepresent invention is not limited to any particular network architecture.

According to the preferred embodiments, market information 108 isdisplayed to the trader(s) on the visual output device or display deviceof the client device 104. The output device can be any type of display.For example, the display could be a CRT-based video display, anLCD-based or a gas plasma-based flat-panel display, a display that showsthree-dimensional images, or some other type of display. The presentinvention is not limited to any particular type of display.

Upon viewing market information 108 or a portion thereof, a trader maywish to send orders to an exchange, cancel orders in a market, changeorders in a market, query an exchange, and so on. To do so, the tradermay input various commands or signals into the client device 104, forexample, by typing into a keyboard, inputting commands through a mouse,or inputting commands or signals through some other input device (e.g.,such as those input devices described with respect to FIGS. 3A-3E). Uponreceiving one or more commands or signals, the client device 104preferably generates transaction information 114. For instance, a tradermay click a mouse button to initiate an order to buy a tradeable object.Then, transaction information 114 would include an order to buy aparticular quantity of the tradeable object at a particular price. Thereare many different types of messages and/or order types that can besubmitted, all of which can be considered various types of transactioninformation 114. Once generated, transaction information 114 would besent from client device 104 to host exchange 102 over network(s) 106.

As previously described, FIG. 1 provides an example system 100 overviewaccording to the preferred embodiments. Various changes and/ormodifications may be made to the system 100 and still fall within thescope of the present invention. For example, it should be understoodthat the present invention is not limited to any particular networkarchitecture or configuration such as described with respect to FIG. 1.The present invention may be applied with utility on any electronicdevice in any network that can be used for electronic trading.

FIG. 2 shows an example overview of client device 200 which issubstantially similar to client device 104 shown in FIG. 1. Clientdevice 200 can be any type of computing device, examples of which wereenumerated above with respect to client device 104. According to thepreferred embodiment, client device 200 has trading application 202stored in memory that when executed arranges and displays marketinformation 108 in many particular ways, usually depending on how thetrader prefers to view the information. Preferably, trading application202 has access to market information 108 through API 204 (or applicationprogramming interface) and trading application 202 can also forwardtransaction information 114 to host exchange 210 via API 204.Additionally, trading application 202 can be given the ability toreceive signals from an input device 212 via input device interface 206and can be given the ability to send signals to display device 214 viadisplay device interface 208. Example input devices are given below withrespect to FIGS. 3A-3E.

II. Order Entry

Displaying market information in relation to a static axis allows forexceptional market feel and an intuitive sense of where the market isheaded. It is also important and beneficial to provide a reflex-fastorder entry system. Therefore, the configurable display of one preferredembodiment enables a trader to send orders by simply clicking in buyand/or sell order entry regions of the display. In another embodiment,buttons on an input device are programmed so that when a particularbutton is pressed it sends a buy order to the matching engine and thatwhen another button when pressed it sends a sell order to the matchingengine. There are numerous input devices that can be used to initiate anorder, examples of which are described below with respect to FIGS.3A-3E. Initiating an order includes sending an order to a host exchange(e.g., see host exchange 102 in FIG. 1) or equivalently, leaving the“hands of the trader.” For instance, the client device, a networkdevice, or the host exchange may be programmed to verify certainparameters of the order and later reject it based on the parameters andsome other criteria. Then, although the trader initiated the order, thesoftware might still reject it and not send it to the host exchange.Software of this kind might be put into place as a risk management tool,for example.

To enable a trader to quickly send an order to host exchange 102, one ormore parameters of an order are preferably based on at least one presetparameter and the location of a cursor on the display. According to onepreferred embodiment, an order's quantity is based on a preset quantitywhile the order's price is based on the location of the cursor on thedisplay. Of course, the preset parameter can be based on something otherthan quantity such as last traded quantity (LTQ), last traded price(LTP), a theoretical value, price, and so on. Additionally, the presetparameter may be linked to and/or based on a dynamic value or anequation. Similarly, the location of the cursor on the display couldrefer to a different value besides price, such as yield. A cursor can bean indicator, such as a blinking (or non-blinking) underline orrectangle that marks or highlights a particular place on the screen. Inapplications that use a mouse, a cursor can be an arrow or otheron-screen icon that moves according to the movements of the mouse. Inreference to digitizing tablets or touch-screen applications, thelocation of the cursor is the location where the stylus (or light pen)touches the screen. Each of these input devices and more are describedbelow with respect to FIGS. 3A-3E. Alternatively, it should also beunderstood that all parameters of an order may be entirely based on thelocation, in one or more dimensions, of a cursor. For instance, thelocation of the cursor along an x-axis might represent the orderquantity and the location of the cursor along the y-axis might representthe order price.

In an embodiment, the display has one or more regions. Then, the regionscan be set up so that one region is an order entry region for buy ordersand another region is an order entry region for sell orders. A buy orderentry region can be an area dedicated for order entry, or alternatively,the buy order entry region can overlap other regions such as the bidquantity display region. The same is true for a sell order entry region.Then, when an input device used to control the cursor is positioned overone of the order entry regions, and a button is “pressed” an order tobuy (if the cursor is positioned over the buy order entry region) or anorder to sell (if the cursor is positioned over the sell order entryregion) would be sent to the host exchange 102. It should also beunderstood that the preferred embodiments may have multiple buy regionsand/or multiple sell regions. Then, for example, each of the multiplebuy regions and each of the multiple sell regions could represent adifferent order type. Example order types known to one skilled in theart of trading include basket, iceberg, block orders limit,limit-on-close, limit-on-open, market, market-on-close, market-on-open,odd lot, one-cancels-all, relative stop, stop limit, sweep-to-fill, andvolume weighted average price.

In another embodiment, buttons or keyboard keys can be programmed thatwhen pressed or selected, a buy order and/or a sell order isautomatically sent to the host exchange 102. For example, a mouse mighthave a least two buttons, a right button and a left button. The rightbutton could be programmed to send an order to sell, while the leftbutton could be programmed to send an order to buy, or vice-versa. Otherprogrammable configurations are possible depending on the type of inputdevice. With respect to keyboard keys, it is possible to map tradingfunctionality to particular keys on a keyboard. For instance, the “A”key might represent entering a buy order at a specified price/quantity,the “;” key might represent entering a sell order at a specifiedprice/quantity, the “S” key might represent delete working bid(s), the“L” key might represent delete working sell(s), and so on. Other tradingfunctionality might include deleting all bids/offers, sweep thebids/offers, trade out, increase/decrease buy side cursor(increase/decrease in price), center buy side cursor, increase/decreasesell side cursor (increase/decrease in price), center sell side cursor,load net position in order quantity entry field, center the market, andso on.

Turning now to FIGS. 3A-3E, examples of various input devices are shown.Of course, other types of input devices known in the art which are notshown in the Figures such as a keyboard can be used. Preferably, eachinput device can be setup to send orders, or perform other types oftrading functionality. Such input signals from the input devicepreferably forms the basis of transaction information 114 which would besent to host exchange 102. Additionally, such input signals from theinput device may also be used to configure the display or viewingportion of the display. For example, although it is described in moredetail below, an input device signal could re-center or re-position aportion of the display that shows market information associated with theinside market.

FIG. 3A shows a mouse device 300. Through the mouse device 300, a tradercan preferably control an on-screen cursor. In the preferred embodiment,to initiate or send an order to the host exchange 102, the user pressesone of the mouse's buttons 302, 304 producing a “mouse click.” Then, anorder is preferably sent from the client device 104 to the host exchange102. As described above, in the preferred embodiment, the order is basedon at least one preset parameter (e.g., corresponding to quantity) andthe location of the on-screen cursor (e.g., corresponding to price).According to one embodiment, if the on-screen cursor is positioned overthe buy order entry region and the user presses one of the mouse'sbuttons 302, 304, it will be an order to buy. If the on-screen cursor ispositioned over the sell order entry region and the user presses one ofthe mouse's buttons 302, 304, it will be an order to sell. According toanother embodiment, if a first button is pressed the order will be a buyorder. If the second button is pressed the order will be a sell order.The first button and the second button are preferably buttons 302, 304on the mouse device 300. Preferably, mouse device 300 also has a wheel306 for navigating menus or displays. For example, the wheel 306 couldbe used to re-center or re-position the inside market.

FIG. 3B shows a glove input device 308. The glove input device 308preferably allows a trader to wear the device over his or her hand andmake hand gestures. Sensors placed in various locations around the gloveinput device 308 measure hand and/or wrist movements. For instance,Immersion 3D Interaction (formerly known as Virtual Technologies, Inc.)has developed the Cyberglove, which is a fully-instrumented glove thatprovides high-accuracy joint measurements. Immersion 3D Interaction'scorporate headquarters is located at 801 Fox Lane, San Jose, Calif.95131 USA. Hand gestures may be programmed into the system so that whenthe user desires to send an order, or some other transactional message,the proper hand signal can be made. The glove input device 308 mightalso control the position of an on-screen cursor, if programmed to doso. Then, to place an order, the user can position the cursor in theappropriate location and send a signal to initiate the order.

FIG. 3C shows a game pad device 310. The game pad device 310 might besimilar to an action game pad device. The game pad device 310 mightcontain various inputs 312 such as buttons and/or keys and/or a controlstick. Preferably, the inputs on the game pad device 310 can beprogrammed to allow a trader to control actions on the screen such assubmitting buy and/or sell orders. For example, one button might beprogrammed to send buy orders, while another button might be programmedto send sell orders. Or a control stick on the game pad device 310 mightcontrol an on-screen cursor, and when the trader is ready to send anorder, he or she can position the cursor over a particular region andpress a button to send the order.

Other input devices that are similar in nature to the game pad device310 may also be used. For instance, an airplane control yoke could beused to input various types of information into the system.Additionally, foot pedals could be used to send signals to the system.

FIG. 3D shows a light pen or stylus 314. The user can point at thescreen with the light pen/stylus 314 and send order commands either bypressing a clip on the side of the light pen/stylus 314 or by pressingthe light pen/stylus 314 against the surface of the screen. As withother input devices, the type of order submitted is preferably based onat least one preset parameter and the location where the screen istouched by the light pen/stylus 314.

FIG. 3E shows a touch-screen 316. Preferably, by touching the display ofthe touch-screen 316 either with a finger or a stylus, the user caninitiate an order based on at least one preset value. The location of atouch can determine if the order is a buy or sell order. Also, thetouch-screen 316, like any input device, can be used to input any typeof transactional message.

Again, it should be understood that the present invention is not limitedto any particular type of input device or the devices illustrated inFIGS. 3A-3E. Any type of input device may be configured to work with thepresent invention. Preferably, the input device is configured, however,in a manner so that the trader can quickly and efficiently submittransaction information 114 to the host exchange 102.

Some input devices were described above to illustrate the concept ofentering orders into the preferred system. Many of the input deviceswere described with respect to entering a single order into the market.In the preferred embodiment, however, an input device can be used toenter more than one order at a time, if so desired. Following are someexamples to illustrate this feature:

A. EXAMPLE 1

Consider that a trader has entered a pre-set order quantity of 20. Then,assume that the trader clicked down (e.g., press down on a mouse buttonwithout releasing) in a sell region at 110.77 and dragged down to 110.68before releasing. The system may be programmed to highlight the pricelevels which were selected. Then, in this example, price levels 110.77,110.76, 110.75, 110.74, 110.73, 110.72, 110.71, 110.70, 110.69, and110.68 would be highlighted. Once the mouse button is released at110.68, for example, orders corresponding to the selected price levelswould be sent to the exchange. The trader's orders would be as follows:(1) sell 2 at 110.77; (2) sell 2 at 110.76; (3) sell 2 at 110.75; (4)sell 2 at 110.74; (5) sell 2 at 110.73, (6) sell 2 at 110.72; (7) sell 2at 110.71; (8) sell 2 at 110.70; (9) sell 2 at 110.69; and (10) sell 2at 110.68. In this example, the system was programmed to divide thepre-set quantity by the number of price levels that the trader draggedthrough (e.g., pre-set quantity of 20 divided by 10 price levels=ordersof size 2).

B. EXAMPLE 2

Instead of dividing the pre-set quantity by the number of orders such asillustrated in example 1, the system may be programmed to enter ordersfor the pre-set quantity of 20 at each of the 10 price levels. Then,assuming that the trader clicked down in a sell region at 110.77 anddragged down to 110.68 before releasing, the trader's orders would be asfollows: (1) sell 20 at 110.77; (2) sell 20 at 110.76; (3) sell 20 at110.75; (4) sell 20 at 110.74; (5) sell 20 at 110.73; (6) sell 20 at110.72; (7) sell 20 at 110.71; (8) sell 20 at 110.70; (9) sell 20 at110.69; and (10) sell 20 at 110.68.

Note that Example 1 and Example 2 show sending orders which have equalquantities among them (e.g., each order in example 1 had a quantity of 2and each order in example 2 had a quantity of 20). However, it is alsoenvisioned that the quantity for one or more orders may be differentfrom the other orders. For example, the quantity could be based on anequation that depends on how far the price level of the future order isaway from the inside market. To illustrate this example, consider anexample equation: quantity=pre-set quantity/(number of ticks from theinside market+1). Then, assume that the inside market was 110.68 and thepre-set quantity was 20. Assuming also that the trader clicked down in asell region at 110.77 and dragged down to 110.68 before releasing, thetrader's orders would be as follows: (1) sell 2 at 110.77; (2) sell 2 at110.76; (3) sell 3 at 110.75; (4) sell 3 at 110.74; (5) sell 3 at110.73; (6) sell 4 at 110.72; (7) sell 5 at 110.71; (8) sell 7 at110.70, (9) sell 10 at 110.69; and (10) sell 20 at 110.68.

C. EXAMPLE 3

The trader may enter one or more parameters to set the quantity for eachorder. Consider that a trader has a pre-set quantity of 100. However,also consider that the trader specified that any one order should be nogreater than a 5-lot order. Then, assume that the trader clicked down ina sell region at 110.77 and dragged down to 110.68 before releasing. Thetrader's orders would be as follows: (1) sell 5 at 110.77; (2) sell 5 at110.76; (3) sell 5 at 110.75; (4) sell 5 at 110.74; (5) sell 5 at110.73; (6) sell 5 at 110.72; (7) sell 5 at 110.71; (8) sell 5 at110.70; (9) sell 5 at 110.69; and (10) sell 5 at 110.68. In thisexample, the system submitted 10, 5-lot orders (e.g., for a totalquantity of 50) to the exchange even though the pre-set quantity was setto 100.

D. EXAMPLE 4

A trader may specify a limit parameter to limit the number of orderswhich could be selected and sent to the market. Consider when a traderhas limited the number of orders which could be dragged into the marketto 5 orders. Then, assume that the trader clicked down in a sell regionat 110.77 and dragged down to 110.68 before releasing. According to oneexample, the trader's orders might be limited to the following 5 orders:(1) sell 5 at 110.77; (2) sell 5 at 110.76; (3) sell 5 at 110.75; (4)sell 5 at 110.74; and (5) sell 5 at 110.73. Alternatively, the trader'sorders might be limited to the following 5 orders: (1) sell 5 at 110.72;(2) sell 5 at 110.71; (3) sell 5 at 110.70; (4) sell 5 at 110.69; and(5) sell 5 at 110.68. Other combinations may alternatively be selectedin response to this action.

E. EXAMPLE 5

A trader may specify a number of orders that would be automatically sentinto the market when only a single order is entered by the trader orwhen only a single action is taken by the trader. For instance, assumethat a trader set this multiple order parameter to 5 and that thisfeature was turned on. Then, assume that the trader entered an order tosell 10 at 110.77. The system may automatically enter 4 more orders,such as two orders above the original order price (e.g., the originalorder price in this example was 110.77) and two orders below theoriginal order price to give the following 4 additional orders: (1) sell10 at 110.79; (2) sell 10 at 110.78; (3) sell 10 at 110.76; and (4) sell10 at 110.75. Alternatively, the preferred system may be programmed toautomatically enter 4 orders at other price levels (e.g., at each of the4 price levels below the original order price or at each of the 4 pricelevels above the original order price).

In Example 5, the automatically entered orders were entered at pricelevels based on the original order price. Alternatively, the trader can“preload” the orders for which he or she would like to be automaticallyentered. In other words, a trader can determine the price levels atwhich orders should be automatically entered when a designated actiontakes place. For instance, the system may be programmed to send ordersat price levels which are a designated number of ticks away from theinside market. Or, the system may be programmed to send orders, withinboundaries, at price levels where an opportunity exists, such as a pricelevel with little or no quantity available (this is illustrated more inExample 6 below). Additionally, the action taken by the trader inExample 5 involved manually sending in a single order, butalternatively, the action or trigger for automatic order entry may beany icon and/or button and/or trigger or groups of buttons/triggers thatwhen pressed and/or selected causes the system to automatically enterthe group of orders. For instance, one or more buttons on a game padcould be programmed that when pressed causes the system to automaticallyenter orders at predetermined price levels.

F. EXAMPLE 6

A trader may click down in a sell region at 110.77 and drag down to110.68 before releasing, but the system would only send orders at pricelevels within the region (e.g., 110.77 through 110.68) that haveopportunities associated with them. For instance, consider when no orvery little quantity was at 116.69 and there was a very large quantityavailable at 110.68. Then, according to this example, an order would besent at 110.69, thus filling that opportunity or gap, but an order wouldnot be sent at 110.68 because an opportunity did not exist based on thecurrent order queue. Additionally, the system preferably examines all ofthe other price levels within that region looking for opportunities tofill with orders. Preferably, the trader can set parameters, such asmaximum quantity levels or maximum order numbers, defining when anopportunity exists.

G. EXAMPLE 7

A trader may click down in a sell region at 110.77 and drag down to110.68 before releasing, yet assume that the lowest sell price at thattime was 110.70 and there are offers to buy at 110.69 and 110.68. Then,in this example, if sell orders were placed at 110.69 and 110.68 theywould have crossed the market (assuming sufficient buy quantity isrepresented). However, according to this example, the system preferablyrefrains from sending those two orders to market and only sends sellorders when they are at or above the inside market. Preferably, it savesthose two orders for when the market is equal to or greater than theorder price. Then, when the market is equal to the order price, theorder may be sent. For instance, if the lowest sell price moves to110.69, then an order to sell would be sent at 110.69. Moreover, if thelowest sell price moves down to 110.68, then an order to sell would besent at 110.68.

H. EXAMPLE 8

A trader may program the system to send orders at designated times. Forinstance, a trader may select or preload orders at various price levelsand assign each future order a time at which it will be sent to theexchange. To illustrate, consider when a trader wishes to place threeorders in the market. Then, he or she might program the system, inresponse to a trigger or action, to automatically enter the first orderat 1-tick away from the inside market at the present time, enter thesecond order at 2-ticks away from the inside market in 1000milliseconds, and enter the third order at 3-ticks away from the insidemarket in 2500 milliseconds. The trader could use this feature to sendmultiple orders to an exchange over the course of seconds, minutes,hours, days or even months.

I. EXAMPLE 9

Additionally, the group of orders which have been dragged in may betreated as a group of orders for purposes of moving them, cancelingthem, changing certain order parameters, and so on. For example, if atrader wished to delete the group, he or she could simply select on theof the orders and delete the entire order group. Or, if the traderwished to change the quantity size, he or she could simply change theorder size of one of the orders and it would correspondingly change theorder size for each of the other orders in the group. Preferably, thetrader could select if he or she wanted to treat the orders as a groupor as independent orders. One way to do this is by highlighting thoseorders which the trader wants as a group and selecting a hotkey to groupthe orders (e.g., on a keyboard, the “Ctrl” key and the letter “g” key).It might also be desirable to have the ability to change or modify ordergroups.

III. Display of Market Information

As described above, the present invention provides a display and tradingmethod to ensure fast and accurate execution of trades by displayingmarket information along a static axis. The static axis is described inU.S. patent application entitled “Click Based Trading With IntuitiveGrid Display of Market Depth,” the contents of which have beenincorporated above by reference. Accordingly, the values in the pricecolumn are static. That is, they do not normally change positions unlessa re-centering, re-positioning or other user initiated command (such asclicking on a scroll button) is received. There-centering/re-positioning command is described more below.

The quantity values displayed in the bid and ask regions are dynamic.For example, they move up and down along the static axis to reflect theinside market and/or market depth for the given tradeable object. So,for example, when the inside market moves up in price, quantitiespopulate the appropriate price levels which using the preferred displayshows that the inside market has just moved up. The same is true forwhen the inside market moves down in price such that quantities populatethe appropriate price levels which shows that the inside market has justmoved down. Additionally, quantity values displayed in the bid and askregions are dynamic in the sense that the actual quantity itself may goup or down in magnitude at a particular price level. For example, assumethat the best bid price was 60 which had a quantity of 375. Then, assumethat the quantity was reduced to 325. Accordingly, the quantitydisplayed would reflect the new quantity value of 325, but the price of60 would remain static.

Using the static axis, preferred embodiments of the display aredescribed with respect to example screen shots shown in FIGS. 4-18.According to the preferred embodiments shown in the Figures, as marketinformation changes, one or more indicators move accordingly along astatic axis. Additionally, as shown in the Figures, as marketinformation changes, one or more indicators move up or down in magnitudeto reflect quantity changes in the market. In some Figures, the staticaxis is represented by a straight line, while in other Figures thestatic axis is represented by a curved line. Regardless of whether thestatic axis is straight or curved, horizontal or vertical (or orientedany other angle), the display and trading methods of the preferredembodiments preferably allow the trader to better visualize movement inthe market more quickly.

A general overview of a preferred display is shown with respect toscreen 400 in FIG. 4. Many variations of screen 400 are shown in thefollowing Figures. Preferably, a screen can be configured to displaymore market information or less market information, preferably dependingon how the trader configures the screen. This allows greater flexibilityfor a trader to tailor the screen and the contents displayed to his orher liking. In any event, screen 400 in FIG. 4 provides an exampledisplay which provides a large amount of information preferably given inone display window. The grid format dynamically displays marketinformation for a given tradeable object, and preferably enables thetrader to enter orders quickly by simply clicking in specific cells ofthe grid. More detail on the grid format is described below with respectto FIG. 5.

For purposes of illustration, screen 400 has been broken up into regions402, 404, 406, 408, 410, and 412. Starting first with region 402. Region402 displays the current time 414. A field at 416 is provided thatindicates how far up/down the market is for the day (an example “+3” isshown indicating the market is up 3 price levels). A drop down menu at418 provides a list of accounts or customers from a drop down customermenu (an example “Account” is shown indicating the customer or accountthat these trades relate to). A field at 420 is provided that indicatesthe total number of trades the trader has made so far (e.g., thesetrades correspond to the example account “Account” set forth in field418). A field at 422 displays the trader's net position. A field at 424displays a preset order quantity. Preset order quantity buttons at 426(referring to “1,” “5,” “10,” “20,” “50,” “100”) can be used to definethe preset order quantity displayed at 424. A clear (“CLR”) icon 428 isprovided to clear the order quantity field at 424. A default quantityfield at 430 is provided to input a value which automatically populatesthe order quantity field at 424. A stop limit order flag at 432 isprovided to submit the next order as a stop limit order. A stop marketorder flag at 434 is provided to submit the next order as a stop marketorder. An IOC icon at 436 is provided to submit an order as immediate orcancel. A delete all icon at 438 is provided to delete all workingorders. A delete offers icon at 440 is provided to delete all of thetrader's offers from the market. A delete bids icon at 442 is providedto delete all of the trader's bids from the market. A priceconsolidation slider at 444 is provided to consolidate price levels andassociated market depth. Price consolidation is described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/971,087, entitled “Click Based Trading withIntuitive Grid of Market Depth and Price Consolidation” filed Oct. 5,2001, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Priceconsolidation for one or more of the display regions is described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/304,248, entitled “Method andInterface for Consolidating Price Levels on a Trading Screen” filed Nov.26, 2002, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Afield at 446 is provided to provide the profit and loss number (“P/L”)which can preferably be programmed to display the profit and loss numberfor a particular account, for a trader, or for group of traders.

Working quantity region at 404 displays working quantities (“W”) andpartial executions on that particular bid (“B”) or offer (“S”).Alternatively, separate bid working order columns and ask working ordercolumns could be used. Preferably, when an order is completely filled ordeleted the values in this region are cleared. Additionally, in thepreferred embodiment, working orders may be moved from one price levelto another simply by selecting the working order of interest anddragging it to another location at a different price level. Movingworking orders from one price level to another is described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/125,894, entitled “Trading Tools forElectronic Trading” filed Apr. 19, 2002, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference. The system then automatically deletesthe previous working order by sending a delete transaction message tothe exchange and enters a new order for the same quantity at the newprice level. Preferably, when an order is changed, the values in theworking quantity region 404 are updated to reflect the changes. Thesystem preferably notifies the exchange of the change.

Bid display region 406 displays current market bid quantities, includingthose of the trader using the interface, if any. Preferably, the biddisplay region 406 can display direct market bids in addition to impliedmarket bids. In the illustrated embodiment, the current market bids areaggregate buy quantities that are displayed in association withcorresponding price levels. Although numbers are used as current marketbid indicators, other types of indicators may be used. For instance,color or color gradients may be used to graphically indicated the numberof market bids. In another example, bars may be used such that thelength of the bars indicates the number of market bids. The indicatorsin the bid display region 406 may in addition, be color-coded, segmentedor otherwise differentiated to represent a corresponding number oforders and/or the trader's orders in relation to other orders in themarket.

Ask display region 408 displays current market offer quantities.Preferably, the ask display region 408 can display direct market offersin addition to implied market offers. In the illustrated embodiment, thecurrent market offers are aggregate sell quantities that are displayedin association with corresponding price levels. Similar to the displayof market bids, other types of indicators may be used to indicate thenumber of market bids and or orders.

Price display region 410 indicates market prices or price levels.Preferably arrows appear at the top and bottom of this region, and whenpressed or otherwise activated, the price display region 410 scrolls sothat beyond the currently viewable area on the screen can be seen. Othermethods may be used to view price levels beyond what is currently viewedsuch as spinning a wheel on a mouse input device or depressingprogrammed hot keys, for example. According to one preferred embodiment,line indicators 448, 450 indicate the highest price and the lowest pricefor which a trade occurred over a time period. (e.g., for the last hourof trading, over the course of the day, over the course of the lastmonth, etc.). Using indicators for high prices and low prices isdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/260,643, entitled“System and Method for Displaying Highest and Lowest Traded Prices ofTradeable Objects” filed Sep. 30, 2002, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

A last traded quantity region 412 indicates the last traded quantity(“LTQ”) in association with its corresponding price level. The lasttrade quantity region 412 may also be used to display other useful itemsof interest. For example, preferably region 412 can be configured todisplay volume by price in bar, text, or some other format (e.g., seevolume bars 452 which indicate the volume traded at various price levelsover set time period). Color, for example, may be used to differentiatetimes within the set period of time. Of course, the LTQ mayalternatively be illustrated numerically and, if desired, only the mostrecent LTQ may be displayed instead of a series of LTQs over a setperiod of time.

A. An Example Grid Display with a Static Axis

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a trading screen 500, which providessimilar market information as screen 400. Screen 500 includes a regionfor displaying working order 502, a region for displaying bid quantities504, a region for displaying ask quantities 506, and a region fordisplaying prices situated uniformly along a static axis 508. In thisexample, the various regions are separated and are dedicated for theirparticular purpose. That is, the regions do not necessarily overlap witheach other. Alternatively, however, a portion of or all of the regionsmay overlap in some fashion, which is described in more detail belowwith respect to FIGS. 9-16.

According to one preferred embodiment, each region 502, 504, 506, 508 isdivided into cells. For example, the working order region 502 has “cell1,” bid quantity display region 504 has “cell 2,” ask quantity region506 has “cell 3,” and price display region 508 has a price level of“150.” Briefly, “cell 1” displays working orders, “cell 2” displays bidquantity, and “cell 3” displays ask quantity, although this apparentfrom the Figure. Each region 502, 504, 506, 508 has a cell or locationthat corresponds to a particular price level. For example, “cell 1,”“cell 2,” and “cell 3” each correspond to price level “150.” Similarly,each region has a cell or location that corresponds to at least pricelevels “132” to “150.” In this example, the price levels are set to1-tick apart, where a tick is the smallest unit of value for aparticular exchange and its tradeable object. In this example, 1-tickrepresents 1 unit of value. Ticks can be whole numbers (e.g., 1, 2, 3, .. . ) or decimal numbers (e.g., 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.5, . . . ) dependingon the exchange and the tradeable object.

According to example trading screen 500, each cell is visuallydistinguished from each other by a grid of lines or borders. However,the grid is not necessary to distinguish each cell. An example of adisplay without the grid is shown in FIG. 16. Referring back to screen500 in FIG. 5, the grid is formed from horizontal and vertical linesmaking up rows and columns. Each column represents a region 502, 504,506, 508 and each cell in a column is associated with a particular pricelevel, previously described directly above. Of course, the grid can beangled or placed horizontally. In a horizontal example, each row couldrepresent a region, including the price display region, and each cell ina column might correspond to a particular price level in the pricedisplay region.

Preferably, order entry is integrated in some fashion into the grid.According to one embodiment, the screen 500 has a buy order entry region510 and a sell order entry region 512. In this example, the buy orderentry region 510 overlaps with the bid display region 504 and the sellorder entry region 512 overlaps with the ask display region 506. So, bypositioning a curser over a cell in the bid display region 504 andpressing the proper button, an order to buy the tradeable object for theprice associated with the cell is automatically sent to the hostexchange 104. By positioning a curser over a cell in the ask displayregion 506 and pressing the proper button, an order to sell thetradeable object for the price associated with the cell is automaticallysent to the host exchange 106. In both examples, each order wouldpreferably include a preset buy and/or sell quantity. The system may beprogrammed to send the order when a button is depressed (e.g., mousebutton pressed down, keypad, touch screen, etc.), or alternatively, thesystem may send the order when the button is depressed and released(e.g., mouse button pressed down and then released, key pressed down andthen released, touch screen touched, etc.).

According to another embodiment, the buy and sell order entry regions510, 512 overlap the bid and ask display regions 504, 506 and priceregion 508. So, by positioning a curser over a cell in any of the bid,ask, or price display regions 504, 506, 508 and pressing the properbutton (e.g., a left mouse button or any other input device, etc.), anorder to buy the tradeable object for the price associated with the cellis automatically sent to the host exchange 104. By positioning a curserover a cell in any one of the bid, ask, or price display regions andpressing the proper button (e.g., a right mouse button or any otherinput device, etc.), an order to sell the tradeable object for the priceassociated with the cell is automatically sent to the host exchange 104.In both examples, each order would preferably have a pre-set quantityassociated with buy and/or sell. This is one type of exampleillustrating how order entry regions might overlap display regions. Itshould be understood that the buy and sell order entry regions canoverlap any region of the display.

Alternatively, by positioning a cursor over a cell that is associatedwith a price level which is less than the best bid, and pressing abutton or icon, an order to buy the tradeable object may beautomatically sent to the host exchange 104. Similarly, by positioning acursor over a cell that is associated with a price level which isgreater than the best offer, and pressing a button or icon, an order tosell the tradeable object may be automatically sent to the host exchange104. In these instances, the order is a buy order or a sell orderdepending on where the cursor is positioned, and not dependent on whichbutton is pressed or selected. Other reference points besides the insidemarket prices may be used to determine if the order is a buy order or asell order such as the last traded price or a theoretical price, forexample.

According to yet another embodiment, orders may be entered through a buyand/or sell order window (not shown). That is, a trader can open a buyand/or sell window and manually fill in the order parameters such asprice and quantity. When the trader is comfortable with the orderparameters as displayed in the window, he or she may then submit anorder having those parameters to the electronic exchange upon selectinga button. It may also be advantageous to automatically populate the buyand/or sell order window with order parameter information. This canoccur by positioning the cursor over a cell associated with a particularprice level and pressing a button. Then, the order window will have thecorresponding price automatically populated into it. Regardless of howthe order parameter information is filled in (e.g., manual or automatic)this alternative embodiment requires the extra step of confirming theorder parameters before the order is actually submitted. Therefore, thisalternate embodiment may not be as desirable for traders requiringfaster order entry systems.

B. Mapping Market Information to Display

As described above, market information might include data thatrepresents just the inside market, where the inside market is the lowestsell price (best offer) and the highest buy price (best bid) for ordersin the market. Example market information is displayed in FIG. 5 forillustrating the preferred embodiment. Referring to screen 500 in FIG.5, the inside market is 140-141, where 140 is the highest bid price and141 is the lowest ask price. Indicators can be used to graphicallyindicate the inside market prices to the trader. More on indicators isdescribed below.

Also recall that market information might include market depth, wheremarket depth refers to quantity available at the inside market and canalso refer to quantity available at other prices away from the insidemarket. The amount of market depth information that is available usuallydepends on the host exchange. That is, one host exchange might providefive levels of market depth (e.g., provide quantity information for 5price levels on the buy side and for 5 price levels on the sell side),whereas another host exchange might provide no levels of market depth(e.g., provide no quantity), or yet another host exchange might provideunlimited levels of depth. Preferably, the client displays the availablelevels of market depth assuming that the trader wants to see all of thelevels of market depth.

In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, market depth is shownin the bid and ask display regions 504, 506, respectively. For example,there is an aggregate ask quantity of “75” offered at a price of “141”and there is an aggregate bid quantity of “20” at a price of “140.”Quantity available at other prices away from the inside market includesask quantities of “100,” “35,” “15,” and “10” and includes bidquantities of “125,” “75,” “20,” and “10.”

In addition, market information can contain other types of market datasuch as the last traded price (LTP), the last traded quantity (LTQ),and/or order fill information. LTP and LTQ can be indicated in aseparate region not shown in FIG. 5 (e.g., in an LTQ column associatedwith the price region 508) or they can be indicated within one of theregions in FIG. 5.

According to a preferred embodiment, as market information is receivedat the client device 104, it is arranged and displayed with reference toa static axis such as shown in the price region 508 of FIG. 5. Forinstance, the system's software determines that the inside market isnear “140” and “141.” Therefore, a static price scale is generatedhaving situated along it the inside market prices and prices above/belowthe inside market based on a pre-set tick, or user-configured, ticksize. If quantity is provided in the feed, then it can also be displayedin the appropriate cells that correspond to the correct price levels.For example, an ask quantity of “75” is placed in a cell 514 in the askquantity display region 506 which corresponds to the price level of“141.” Preferably, this process updates the display as new marketinformation 108 is received at the client device 104.

As the market information 108 is received and the display is updated,the price levels preferably remain fixed in their cells within the priceregion 508. That is, the price levels are displayed statically withrespect to the cell or box it is placed in. This is useful as newquantities levels are received via an update, they can be mapped tostatic price levels corresponding along the static axis, which gives thetrader a stationary frame of reference to the changing market data. Thisallows movements in the market to visually stand out to the trader.

As shown in FIG. 5, working orders to sell “10” and “15” have beenplaced at price levels of “147” and “143,” respectively. Working ordersto buy “10” have been placed at price levels “132” and “139.” Thequantities shown in the bid and ask display regions 504, 506 preferablyreflect the quantity from these working orders. That is, if the workingorder to buy “10” at price level “132” was deleted, no quantity would beshown in the bid display region 504. Alternatively, it is envisionedthat the trader could choose to have his or her working orders removedfrom the bid and ask display regions 504, 506. Then, the trader wouldview only those quantities due to other traders. The working ordersremain fixed in relation to their price levels until the order isfilled, the order is moved to a different price level, or the order isdeleted.

Additionally, it is envisioned that the traders working in a group canview each other's working orders and also have those working ordersremoved from the bid and ask display regions 504, 506. If desired,orders due to individual traders could be identified by colors or someother indicator to separate the individual trader's working orders fromthe group's working orders.

C. Adjusting How Regions Are Displayed

Sometimes it is useful to re-arrange one or more of the regions shown inFIGS. 4 or 5 to better suit the trader's preferences. Thus, in apreferred embodiment, referring to the screen 500 in FIG. 5, the traderis allowed to rearrange the regions of the display. One example of thisrearrangement is shown in FIG. 6, which shows a screen that is similarto the example screen 500 of FIG. 5, except that in FIG. 6 the pricedisplay region 608 is located between the bid display region 604 and askdisplay region 606. Notice that the placement of the price displayregion 608 does not necessarily effect how the market information 108 isdisplayed. Other regions can also be moved or rearranged on the display,preferably to suit the user's preferences. According to a preferredembodiment, any region can be moved by selecting the region with aninput device and dragging it to another desired location.

Sometimes it is useful to see price levels that are currently out ofview. For example, the market may move out of view, or a trader wants toplace an order a price level not currently shown in the display. Thus,in the preferred embodiment, the display 600 allows the trader to scrollup and down the static axis to view other price levels and marketinformation. Indicators such as arrow icons 614 are displayed toindicate to the trader that he or she can scroll along the static axis.The trader can simply select or press the arrow icons 614 with an inputdevice to move up or down (or along the static axis). A scroll bar mayalso be used in place of or in addition to the arrow icons.Additionally, a button on an input device can be rotated back and forthto scroll along the axis. For instance, some mouse devices have a wheelthat can be spun in two directions. If the wheel is spun in onedirection, the trader could scroll in one direction along the staticaxis. If the wheel is spun in the other direction, the trader couldscroll in the opposite direction along the static axis.

FIG. 7 illustrates, in comparison to FIG. 5, the ability to manuallyadjust which portion of the price display region 708 is displayed. In apreferred embodiment, when arrow up/down icons 714, 716 are depressed, adifferent portion of the price display region 708 is displayed. In thisexample illustration, the down arrow icon 716 was depressed so thatprice levels “127” to “145” are shown. Notice again, that the marketdepth and working orders remain fixed in relation to their respectiveprice levels when the view is adjusted. If the up arrow 714 wasdepressed, the price levels shown would increase in magnitude. Marketinformation corresponding to those higher price levels, if any exists,would also be shown.

When the market ascends or descends the price column or the static axis,the inside market might go above or below the price levels of the pricedisplay region 708 that are currently displayed on a trader's screen.One could manually adjust which portion of the price display region isdisplayed, such as described above, or one could use the re-centering orre-positioning feature. That is, the system will re-center orre-position the inside market on the trader's screen. There are manyways to give a re-centering/re-positioning command. For instance, abutton or hotkey may be programmed so that when, it is pressed, thesystem automatically re-centers or re-positions the inside market on thescreen. Alternatively, when the inside market is near one of the edgesof the screen, the system may automatically re-center or re-position thedisplay. The system may be programmed to re-center or re-position aroundsomething other than the inside market. For example, the system may beprogrammed to re-center or re-position around a theoretical price valuewhich is fed into the system from a third-party software application.

Sometimes, it might not be necessary to display certain types ofinformation. For example, some traders are interested in trading basedon relative movement of the quantities, without necessarily needing toknow the actual prices. Then, it might not be necessary to displayactual price levels given that bid and ask quantities move along astatic axis. Accordingly, FIG. 8 illustrates the option of removing theactual display of prices along the static axis. However, this does notmean that the static axis is removed, but merely that the price levelssituated along the along the axis are not displayed.

D. Displaying Portions of the Market Information

Sometimes it is useful to display only portions of the marketinformation which are relevant to the trader. For example, some tradersare interested in viewing market depth at all price levels, whereas sometraders are interested in viewing only the market depth at the insidemarket. Some traders might be interested in viewing only the insidemarket with no quantity. Because there is variation between whatdifferent traders want to have displayed, the preferred embodiment canbe configured to display only those portions which are relevant to thetrader. Some examples are provided below to illustrate how the displayof the preferred embodiments can be configured to display particularportions of the market information.

FIGS. 9 and 10 shows example screens of the preferred embodiments. Theexample screen 900 displays market depth at 910 at the inside marketprices at 912. The screen 900 includes a bid display region 904, an askdisplay region 906, and a price display region 908 for displaying pricessituated along a static axis. Again, as with the other embodimentsdescribed herein, more or less market information can be displayed inexample screen 900.

FIG. 10 shows screen 1000 that displays substantially similar marketinformation as shown in screen 900 in FIG. 9 only at some time in thefuture. The inside market 1010 has changed along with quantitiesassociated with the inside market. Price levels positioned along thestatic axis remain static, but the inside market price moved up to ahigher price level. In particular, the inside market has a bid quantityof “50” available at “144” and an ask quantity of “25” at “146.” Thisintuitive display shows the market has moved up in price. It also showsthe quantity available at the inside market according to the matchingengine. That is, the screen 1000 shows that there is a bid quantity of“50” available at “144” and an ask quantity of “25” at “146.”

Similar to the other displays of the preferred embodiment, screen 1000allows a trader to scroll along the static axis with the up and downarrows, it allows for the regions to be rearranged, it allows otherregions to be added such as working order column(s) and column(s) fordisplaying last traded quantity and last traded price, etc. A benefit,however, of showing few columns in the screen 1000 is that it savesspace on the client device's display. Then, a trader can view moremarkets and/or other types of market information 108 which is fed to theclient device and displayed.

FIG. 11 shows the same market information as shown in FIG. 9 with theuse of a graphical indicator to highlight the inside market. Thegraphical indicator in this example is a rectangular block thatsurrounds the best bid price and its quantity and a rectangular blockthat surrounds the best ask price and its quantity. Other types ofgraphical indicators, including colors and/or highlighting, can be usedto highlight the inside market or any other relevant portions of marketinformation.

FIG. 12 shows the same market information as shown in FIG. 10. Movementof the graphical indicators along the static axis enable the trader toquickly identify a change in the market. This inside market can go upand down in value along the static axis (or side to side, for example,depending on how the static axis is configured). Referring to FIG. 11and then FIG. 12, it becomes easier to see how the market information isdisplayed in an intuitive manner so that it allows for immediatereaction to the market's changes. By quickly viewing that the market hasjust moved up (e.g., the inside market is moving up in price), a tradercan make better decisions about his or her present and future orders.

Additionally, an indicator 1204 may be used to highlight where theinside market was previously. Such an indicator 1204 may appear (orreappear) on the display after the system receives a re-center orre-position command. Then, when the inside market moves way from theindicator 1204, a trader can easily view if the market has moved up ordown along the static axis. The indicator 1204 can remain on the screenuntil the next re-center or re-position command is received in whichcase the indicator 1204 is moved, or alternatively, the system can beprogrammed so that the indicator 1204 disappears over time to avoidclutter on the screen, if desired. The indicator 1204 is shown as aline, but it can be other types of indicators including graphicalindicators and/or text based indicators.

As previously described above, it is not always necessary to display theprice levels (e.g., see FIG. 8). In other circumstances, a trader mightwant to display only the price levels in the price region. FIG. 13 showsprice levels arranged along a static axis. Other regions and indicators,including order entry, can overlap the price region to display even moremarket information. For example, the inside market is displayed in theprice region by numerical and/or graphical indicators. In thisembodiment, graphical indicators 1302 surround the lowest ask price of“141” and the highest bid price of “140.” Moreover, lines (e.g., a thinline) can be used to indicate price levels with greater accuracy. Forinstance, a trader may wish to highlight a theoretical price value onher screen and consider when the theoretical price value is 140.5. Then,the system can use a line that is displayed in a location along theprice levels which corresponds to 140.5.

FIG. 14 shows substantially the same market information as in FIG. 13 inaddition to market depth for price levels different than the insidemarket. As described directly above, other regions can overlap the priceregion to display more market information. For instance, the bid displayregion, the ask display region, and the price display region alloverlap. Additionally, the order entry region can overlap those regions.Other regions can overlap the price display regions such as workingorder display region, or a region for displaying the LTQ and LTP, etc.Preferably, the regions substantially overlap each others to form a morecompact display. How much overlap may depend on how compact the traderprefers the display.

Graphical indicators 1402 surround the lowest ask price of “141” and thehighest bid price of “140.” Market depth indicators 1404 or numericaltext (not shown) can be displayed in the price display region so thatthe trader can determine quantity levels at various price levels. Asshown, shapes are also used to distinguish bid quantities (e.g.,triangles) from sell quantities (e.g., circles). Other shapes may beused. Different levels of market depth can be indicated by variousshades of depth. For instance, a dark color indicator could indicate alarge amount of quantity, a light color indicator could indicate noquantity, and a color gradient could indicate a quantity somewhere inbetween. The colors could be set to last for a particular period of timeand then dissolve. This might be similar to an image formed on a thermalsensing material where the color dissolves over time. Alternatively, anumber representing quantity could be positioned inside the cell next tothe price. Graphical indicators can also be used to indicate workingorders, or last traded quantities, or other useful items of interestthat are described herein.

FIG. 15 shows the same market as shown in FIG. 13 except that the insidemarket has moved up in price. As previously described, graphicalindicators can be used to highlight the inside market. As the insidemarket moves, the graphical indicators move to highlight the change. Byhaving information displayed in a simple format such as shown in FIGS.13-15, changes in the market can be tracked without distraction.Moreover, an indicator can be used to highlight the last re-centerposition or the last inside market prices, for example.

E. An Example Display Without Cells

FIG. 16 shows an example screen 1600 of another preferred embodiment.The screen 1600 includes a region for displaying bid quantities 1602, aregion for displaying ask quantities 1604, and a region for displayingprices (e.g., see 1606) situated along a static axis. In this example,portions of the various regions 1602, 1604, and 1606 overlap. Forexample, as a cursor 1608 is placed over the display, a price levelcorresponding to that location appears. This feature is illustrated inFIG. 16 by the cursor, represented by the arrows 1608, placed over thedisplay and, as a result, price level “135” appears. The bid quantitydisplay region 1602 and the ask quantity display region 1604 overlap theprice display region 1606. If order entry is wanted in the screen 1600,an order entry region 1610 can be programmed to overlap one or more ofthe regions (e.g., bid quantity display region 1602, ask quantitydisplay region 1604, and an order entry region 1610). Then, when anorder is submitted, it can be based on the price level associated withlocation of the cursor 1608 and a preset parameter such as quantity. Thetype of order (e.g., buy or sell order) can be determined many differentways. For instance, the order could be a buy order if the cursor 1608 isin the bid display region, or it could be a sell order if the cursor1608 is in the ask display region. Alternatively, the order could be abuy order is the cursor 1608 is positioned at or below the best bidprice, or it could be a sell order if the cursor 1608 is positioned ator above the best ask price. In yet another embodiment, the order couldbe a buy or sell order depending on which button is pressed (e.g., rightor left mouse button).

Unlike some of the previous displays, screen 1600 does not have cellswhich are divided by visible borders. In this preferred embodiment, thescreen 1600 has locations for displaying information, but the quantityindicators (and other types of indicators) preferably “float” over thedisplay and are positioned with reference to price levels positioned,but not necessarily displayed, along a static axis. This type of screen1600 where the indicators “float” over the display can be applied to anyscreen described herein.

F. An Example Display with a Curved Static Axis

FIGS. 17-18 show a display that has a static axis, screen 1700 andscreen 1800, respectively, but it is curved in shape. By curving theaxis, a larger portion of price levels can be shown for the amount ofspace utilized. The curved axis can be placed vertical as it is in thefigure or at any angle. For instance, the axis could be situatedhorizontally so that it can extend across a standard computer monitor,which are typically wider than they are tall.

Graphical indicators can be used along the curved static axis just asthey can be used along a straight static axis. To illustrate someexamples, FIG. 17 shows a bold line 1702 which represents price levels1704 at which trades occurred over a period of time (e.g., the last 30days, over the last day, over the last hour, etc.). Indicator 1706 showsthe lowest ask price and the indicator 1708 shows the highest buy price.Indicators 1706 and 1708 travel along the curved static axis as themarket changes. Other indicators can also be used to indicate workingorders, or last traded quantities, or other useful items of interestthat are described herein. For example, working sell orders 1710 areshown for quantities of 10 each at price levels of 156 and 164, andworking buy order 1712 is shown for a quantity of 5 at a price level of137.

FIG. 18 shows additional indicators 1802, 1804 for indicating the lowestask price and the highest buy price, respectively, for a second marketalong the same curved static axis as for the first market. For instance,sometimes it might be useful to normalize the markets and reference themto a common static axis. Consider when two exchanges offer the sameproduct such as 10 year notes. Then, the two markets may be displayedwith respect to the same static axis. If necessary, the price levels ofthe markets could be normalized to account for transaction fees and/orother exchange related fees. Consider also a single stock future offeredby one exchange and a stock (related to the single stock future) offeredby another exchange. Then, the single stock futures market and the stockmarket could be normalized (if necessary, to account for any differencein fees or number of shares, etc.) and displayed along a common staticaxis. Displaying more than one market along a static axis can also applyto a display which utilizes a straight static axis.

IV. Conclusion

There are many advantages for displaying market information in a mannerthat allows a trader to quickly recognize opportunities at various pricepoints. The numerical/graphical indicators described above can beapplied to quantity levels and/or the number of orders at a price level.All of these indicators provide the trader with a way to quicklyrecognize the quantity of orders at various price points. If thequantity or orders are sufficiently low at a particular price level, atrader may be encouraged to enter an order at that level with the goalof maximizing his chances of getting filled at that level if the marketmoves in that direction.

One way to display market information is to use color to indicateopportunities to the trader. The color can be used to highlight numbers,text, backgrounds, borders and so on, such that the trader can quicklyrecognize the color and react accordingly. Shapes can also be usedinstead of color or in addition to color. For example, a particularshape could be placed near the price levels and/or quantities toindicate an opportunity to the trader. Audio signals can also be used inplace of graphical indicators or in addition to graphical indicators.For example, an audible tone could be provided when an opportunityexists. Once the trader is alerted that an opportunity exists, he or shecan scan the display for an indicator at the price level where theopportunity exists. Another way to display market information is to usecolor gradients to show various levels of depth.

The foregoing description is presented to enable one of ordinary skillin the art to make and use the invention. Various modifications to thepreferred embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in theart and the general principles herein may applied to other embodiments.Therefore, it should be understood that the above description of thepreferred embodiments, alternative embodiments, and specific examplesare given by way of illustration and not limitation. Many changes andmodifications come within the scope and spirit of the following claimsand equivalents thereto are claimed as the invention.

1. A graphical user interface for trading and displaying marketinformation of a tradeable object on a client device, the systemcomprising: a first region for displaying a plurality of price levelsarranged equidistantly along a static price axis; a second region, thatsubstantially overlaps the first region, for displaying one or moreindicators for highlighting one of the plurality of price levelsassociated with the lowest offer and for highlighting one of theplurality of price levels associated with the highest bid; and a thirdregion, that substantially overlaps the first region, for initiatingplacement of an order to buy or an order to sell the tradeable objectthrough an action of a user input device with a cursor of the user inputdevice positioned over one of the plurality of price levels, wherein atleast one order parameter is associated with the position of the cursorat the time of the action. 2-24. (canceled)